Blink: The Tenth Muse
by V.B. Lupin
Summary: In the blink of an eye, the Detective of the East's life entered the grey zone. Fem!Shinichi
1. Heist the First

**This is a Fem!story, you have been warned.**

* * *

_In the blink of an eye, the Detective of the East's life entered the grey area._

* * *

Kudou Yuusaku watched as his wife and daughter faced off inside their library, slightly amused. This would prove to be a very interesting ordeal.

"What_?" _Kudou Yukiko was in absolute shock. Her daughter—her own flesh and blood—had just destroyed one of her many dreams. Why? What had she done wrong as a mother? Sure she was the one who had suggested the lessons in the first place, but that did mean her daughter had to outright reject her budding career!

"I don't want to be a child actress," six year old Kudou Shinmi looked up from the rather thick book she was reading and said with words with finality, "or even an actress when I get older, for that matter."

"B-but _why not?_" Yukiko whined. "My agent said you could be very successful! And it's a lot of fun too! You get to become different people and wear fun costumes, and—!"

"I want to be a detective, Kaa-chan," Shinmi said, "like Sherlock Holmes."

"A _detective_?" Yukiko looked back at Yuusaku, her eyes blaming him. It was his fault though; he would admit that. Yuusaku was the one who, instead of reading fairy tales to their daughter at her designated bed time, read Ellery Queen, Sherlock Holmes, and the even occasional Arsene Lupin novel to her.

"Un," the young girl nodded. "I want to catch all kinds of criminals. I can be like Holmes, and Kaito can be my Watson." Her eyes became determined, "We can go against thieves like Kaitou KID just like Sholmes went against Lupin." She scoffed at her mother before continuing, "And the acting class I'm in right now is so _boring_. All the other students are terrible actors, and I can see through their disguises easily."

Yukiko gaped at her daughter while Yuusaku chuckled, deciding to join the conversation.

"Shinmi."

"Yes, Tou-chan?"

"Aside from being a master of observation, analytical reasoning, and deduction, do you know what else Sherlock Holmes was?" He watched as the gears turned inside his small daughter's brain, looking for the information he wanted. He masked his smirk easily when he saw his daughter frown up at him.

"Sherlock Holmes is also a master of disguise," she replied bitingly. "I get what you're saying, Tou-chan, but couldn't I learn the art of disguise from someone else?"

Yukiko's eyes sparkled with glee, "I know _just_ the person…"

~:~

"Why are we doing this, Kaito?" Seven year old Kudou Shinmi gave her cousin a curious glance as they traded drawstring bags, each holding a separate pair of clothes.

"Because," Kaito said, emptying the contents of his bag on his bedroom floor, "Tou-chan's testing your disguise skills, and I'm the only person you can easily disguise yourself as!"

"But why are _you_ being _me_?" Shinmi rectified her question, "Couldn't you just pretend to be a random boy?"

"It's more fun this way; I get to dress up too!" Kaito explained, "If I pretend to be you, and you pretend to be me, it'll make it harder to notice, Shin-chan!"

"Don't call me that," she commanded.

"But I like calling Shin-chan Shin-chan!" Kaito attempted to pounce on his older cousin, but she jumped out of the way, heading for the door. Kaito sat up on the carpeted floor, confused. "Where are you going, Shin-chan?"

"Kai, I love you, but you're not going to see me change," Shinmi said and left her cousin in his bedroom looking terribly confused.

~:~

"You got the part, Shin-chan!" Yukiko squealed with delight as she twirled her daughter around in the air.

"Put me down right now!" Shinmi shrieked. When she got her release, she glared at her uncle, "You tricked me!"

Shinmi was with her parents, aunt, and uncle inside her family's living room. Her mother had just received a call from her agent, claiming to be a bearer of good news, but all Shinmi saw was a damper in her plans.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Toichi's eyes twinkled with mischief as he innocently replied to his niece.

"After I pretended to be Kaito, you made me pretend to be that Kaiyo girl, and you filmed me and gave it Kaa-san!" Shinmi accused, pointing her finger at the adult. "It was really for an audition, wasn't it?"

"I don't know~" Toichi leaned back in his chair, smug satisfaction hiding behind an immaculate Poker Face.

Shinmi stuck her tongue out at him, "Well, I'm not doing—!"

"Shin-chan, are you gonna be in a movie?" Kaito came into the room, holding one of his father's doves. He was grinning excitedly, "That's really cool!"

"I'm not, Kaito," she said, stubbornly crossing her arms.

Kaito frowned, "Why not? You're really good at acting!"

"Well, I can't be an actress _and_ a detective!" she said as if it were obvious, the 'duh' in her voice flowing out like a rain gutter after an April shower. "You can still be a magician and my Watson, but I don't think I can do both."

"Well, I bet youcould, Shin-chan!" Kaito nodded, completely sure of his words. "Will you try?"

"Kaito…" Shinmi frowned. Kaito was making this harder than it was supposed to be. On the one hand, she really wanted to be a detective with nothing standing in her way, but on the other hand, she didn't like disappointing Kaito. And maybe being forced to stay in character would help with her disguise skills?

She sighed, "Fine, Kaito, I'll do it. But if it messes up my detective work, I'm quitting, okay?"

~:~

"Kaito, why are we doing this?" Fourteen year old Kudou Shinmi asked she buttoned the top buttons of her white dress shirt. She slid on her black jacket and gave one last glance into the backstage mirror, straightening her red bow tie with one hand and holding the cell phone she was listening to in the other. She turned to face Kaito. Shaking her head, she leaned forward and straightened his tie which was adorably skewed.

"Why shouldn't we be doing this?" Kaito asked in return. He put on his own jacket, "We're awesome, so we should show off our awesomeness!"

"Let it never be said that you're a logical person," Shinmi replied dryly. She went back to the phone, and her voice changed slightly, "Yes, Keibu, I'm still here. Go to the bedroom. You said it was a Western styled house, did you not?"

"Gods forbid," Kaito grinned cheekily and patted down hidden pockets in his jacket.

"Filp over the mattress, there should be a blood stain there," Shinmi said into the phone, "The murder weapon should also be strapped there with the waterproof athletic tape." She then spoke to Kaito, "Seriously though, why did I agree to this?" Shinmi asked. "We've only ever done this in your living room!"

"And we've totally rocked my living room!" Kaito said, "I don't get why you're worried."

"If anyone finds out who I am, I lose one of the most important parts of my life to the press," she said. "I really don't want that." She then went back to the phone, "Yes, you're welcome Megure-keibu, and no, I'm not telling you who I am." She flipped the phone shut and set it down on the table.

"I'm flattered," Kaito wiggled his eyebrows, and Shinmi snorted. "You're using a fake name," he pointed out. "No one's going to suspect that the mystery-loving actress Kudou Shinmi puts on magic shows with her cousin in her spare time."

"And despite that name, I'll probably be recognized," she frowned, "and that's the last thing I want. I don't need to get a _second _disguise." She then looked around the vicinity, eyes searching for something. When she found nothing, she frowned. "Where are Sheri and Adler?" She looked at her cousin, "Kaito, I've told you a million times, they are not like the doves you use for magic shows!"

"I didn't take them!" Kaito said, "I know better than that!"

"Really? Because I don't think that you do!" she shot back. "I'm already nervous enough without having to look for two doves that are a lot smarter than they look."

As if on cue, two doves came flying towards them. One was an Oriental Turtle dove, Adler, and the other one was a White-Winged Collared dove, Sheri. The two landed on Shinmi's shoulders as if they had never left.

"Please keep your birds in check," A woman wearing a headset walked over to them, "You'll be on in five minutes."

"Right, thanks," Kaito nodded to her, "We'll be ready." He then looked to his cousin, "Shinmi, I believe you are forgetting one of Tou-san's and Ba-chan's greatest lessons."

"I know, I know," she took a deep breath and let it out with a sigh. She then set a soft smile onto her face, "The illustrious Poker Face and Muse's Mask."

"Exactly~" Kaito wore a grin. "'Sometimes a trick may fail, but you mustn't bring it to the audience's attention. Always keep your cards hidden and always keep a good poker face,

"'Sometimes a line may be forgotten, but you mustn't let it be known to the audience,'" she spoke the words of her mother, "'Adopt the ways of Thalia and Melpomene and wear a mask that fits the stage'," Shinmi finished with a grin. "Okay, I'm done with being nervous."

"Good," Kaito nudged her lightly, "I almost got worried for a second."

"Almost?" Shinmi faked her hurt, pouting. "So mean, Kaito…"

Kaito rolled his eyes, "You've got the blood of Japan's greatest actress flowing through your veins. You could have been faking."

"I am _nothing_ like my mother!" She hit his shoulder playfully, a mock glare on her face.

"You always say that line she told you," Kaito pointed out. "And you're one of our rising stars anyway. You're already filming a movie for that drama you're in, aren't you? Isn't it also in its second year?"

"Not the time or the place," Shinmi said, "and isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?"

"By the way, was it the butler?" Kaito asked with a grin.

"The nanny, actually," Shinmi said as she set Sheri and Adler on perches, "Now, both of you two need to stay put during the show, but you can watch from here. Adler, keep an eye on Sheri."

Adler cooed to show his understanding of his mission

"I find it amusing that you named a female dove after Sherlock Holmes and a male dove after Irene Adler," Kaito said. "They must have some messed up gender identities."

"Which is why I call them Sheri and Adler," Shinmi replied.

They listened to their act being announced with identical grins.

"_And now, our newest act!"_

"Sometimes a trick may fail, but you mustn't bring it to the audience's attention," Kaito began, and he straightened out his sleeve. "Always keep your cards hidden."

"_Two promising young magicians!"_

"Sometimes a line may be forgotten, but you mustn't let it be known to the audience," Shinmi repeated her mother's words as she flattened out any bumps in her hidden pockets, "Adopt the ways of Thalia and Melpomene."

"_Presenting Kuroba Kaito and Kuroba Keiko!"_

"Always keep a good poker face…," Kaito started.

"… and wear a mask that fits the stage," Shinmi finished.

* * *

So, hi.

I officially apologize to all those who have me on Author Alert because this is _so_ not what you're expecting from me. This is one of the many things I do when I'm not working on ISMD, SS, or a Princess File. There are two other fandoms I have yet to post writing about...

So yeah, this was originally just a drabble type thing, but it now has a plot, and I'm far enough into it to post the first "Heist."

I hope you enjoyed, and anonymous reviews are allowed.

Me no own, you no sue,

~LiLu


	2. Heist the Second

"_What do you mean you're not going to school?" _Ran asked, _"Shinichi, you miss a lot of school already! At this rate, you're going to miss all of the testing for high school!"_

"I know I miss a lot of school Ran, you don't have to tell me," Shinmi rolled her eyes. "And Ran? It's August. Testing doesn't start until the spring semester," Shinmi replied in her 'male voice' as she sat in the back of a car. She was heading to a studio for the filming of the drama she was currently in cast as the heroine. She looked over the script as she spoke, "Don't worry about it so much, Ran. We're both going to go to Teitan High, and it'll be just fine."

"_You always say that it's going to fine, that it's going to be okay, but…"_ She trailed off. _"I'm worried."_

"Don't be," Shinmi said. "I'm fine, really. I'll be back in school soon enough."

"_You know what?" _Ran's voice sounded annoyed, _"Sonoko keeps saying that you're a hopeless mystery otaku, and I'm starting to believe her!"_

Shinmi winced at the click that met her ears. She then sighed, "Well, it's for the best. 'Shinichi' might not even be going to Teitan High if we're already filming for the third running year," She flipped to the front cover of the script.

_A Study in Beika-chou:_

_The Case Book of Honma Shinsho_

"And on top of all this, a movie covering their break after graduation?" Shinmi groaned and dropped on her side, lying across the seats of the car. "I bet Occhan's laughing at me in his grave…"

~:~ONE YEAR LATER~:~

Shinmi leaned in close to a boy with dark, curly hair and thick, black horn-rimmed glasses. An arm was on his desk, and she propped her face up on her hand, her chin resting delicately. She moved a hand towards his tie, and he immediately grabbed it, eyes narrowed. She laughed lightly, a smirk curling onto her lips, "Why are you always so suspicious, Shinsho-kun?"

The curly haired boy deadpanned, "Should I answer that chronologically or alphabetically?"

"Surprise me," she challenged, her smirk growing.

To the side of them, a boy with light brown hair rolled his eyes at their behavior, "You two..."

They both looked to him, faces depicting the innocence of angels, "Yes?"

He shook his head with an annoyed frown, "Never mind."

There was a pregnant pause as the three waited.

"… and cut!" The three turned to the director, "That's all we have for today." The people around them rushed about the set, moving things and giving instructions.

Shinmi pushed off from the desk and leaned on one of the corners. She looked to the boy in the desk, "Minoru, did you hear we're going to see the trailers at the end of the week?"

"I'm excited," he grinned, leaning back into the desk. "I did some pretty cool stuff during shooting. Do you think they're going to use parts from the scene on top of the building?"

"You mean the one where you and I practically kiss?" Shinmi asked. "Oh, I'm sure they will. Anything to help the hype of the series. Irene Adler only appeared in _A Scandal in Bohemia_, but she and Sherlock are seen as practically married." She rolled her eyes, "Shinsho might as well have given Airi a promise ring."

"I heard that it's going to be getting a lot of hype anyway," the boy with brown hair came over. He smirked, "How popular do you think we're going to get?"

"You sound excited, Hisao," Minoru said sarcastically.

"Oh, I'm bursting from the seams with excitement," he said dryly. "Everyone gets to see how much I got to patch you up like a doting nurse."

"You usually watch me writhe in pain before helping me in the show though," Minoru said thoughtfully.

"And Hisao and I argue about which one of us should help you." Shinmi added.

"Like you said, Airi practically has a ring on her finger," Hisao pointed out. "She should be willing to help her beloved."

"Well, Watsune and Shinsho might as well be married," Shinmi argued. "Sherlock and Watson had one of those bromances where it was leaning heavily on the 'actually homosexual' side."

"Are you calling my character gay?" Hisao asked blatantly.

Minoru blinked, "Actually, I think it would be Shinsho who would make all the advances. Jun's supposed to get a girlfriend later on in the series, and Shinsho drives her away, so I guess that could have something to do with it."

Shinmi shook her head, "I am not debating about whether or not Sherlock Holmes was secretly in love with John Watson."

"You brought it up though," Hisao reminded her.

"For the record, I said bromance leaning towards homosexuality," Shinmi clarified. "I didn't say he actually was gay.

"You implied it though," Minoru said.

She pushed off the desk, "I'm getting out of this uniform and away from this conversation."

"Me too," Hisao said. He looked to Minoru, "Coming?"

"Sure," Minoru slipped out of his desk. He went to Hisao and latched onto him, "How about you carry me, Hisa-chan~?"

"How about no?" the slightly taller teen suggested. He took a step forward, and the weight of the other boy set in, not letting him get that far.

"Drag me then," Minoru said childishly.

Shinmi cracked a smile, laughing to herself.

Hisao turned to the brunette, "You think this is funny?"

"I won't confirm or deny that statement," she said cryptically.

"Oh, be quiet, Hisa-chan, you know you love me," Minoru said.

"Only in your dreams." Hisao forced Minoru to let go, and the shorter teen found his butt connected to the ground.

"I'll meet you there~!" Minoru grinned cheekily from his spot on the ground. He then remembered something, "Do you guys read the manga for this show?"

"Minoru, we all read the manga for the show," Hisao reminded him. "Remember, the mangaka said that they wanted kids who were fans of it to play the main characters."

"Whatever, so you guys saw who the character based off of Arsène Lupin is, right?" Minoru asked. "He's just like Kaitou KID!"

"Except he wears black and read, is a high school student, and he's doing heists just because he's some rich kid with too much time on his hands," Shinmi said. "Kaitou KID wears white and blue and has to be at least as old as my parents. I don't think he has a motive though, so they're alike in that respect."

"Yeah, KID's been going for the most random gems," Hisao said. "Now he says that he's going to steal a clock tower."

"I'm sure he didn't mean the _whole _clock tower, just the hands or something," Minoru corrected with an eye roll, "There's no way that he could steal a whole clock tower."

"Right," Shinmi agreed mockingly, "because stealing two clock hands bigger than your person is totally possible." She added an afterthought, "Even if he could, I doubt KID would get away with it."

Minoru looked up at her, "What, you think _you_ could stop him?"

"Shinmi-san, you may be on a drama about detectives," Hisao said, "but there's no way you could go up against real criminals."

Shinmi frowned to herself as Minoru got up off the ground, and the three walked off the set together.

Later, when she was walking to her car, she dialed a number, "Megure-keibu?"

"_Who is this and how did you get this number?"_ Megure's voice rang clearly through the phone, _"This is the number that's been sending anonymous tips to us. Who are you?"_

"It's Kudou Yuusaku's daughter, Shinmi," she said quickly. "You gave me this number after we met on the plane to New York this past spring, remember?"

"…_Yes, I do. So, it's been a child sending in all those alerts and clues?" _The inspector was shocked.

"Yeah, sorry to be tricking the police force this whole time, but it was much easier for me to have you tell me the scenarios."

"_I understand that," _Megure allotted, _"but how did you know when someone would die?"_

Shinmi frowned lightly, "I seem to…" she coughed slightly, "run into them a lot, dead bodies. I'm always on the scene on the scene before you are, but I have to leave because it's not good for people to think I'm surrounded in death."

"_I see…" _Megure said slowly. _"What did you want to speak with me about? Someone didn't die, did they?"_

"No!"Shinmi said quickly, "I do have a favor to ask of you though…"

~:~

Kaito sat in his bedroom, holding a white top hat in his hands, "Tou-chan…" He looked up at the picture of his father dressed in KID's suit. He walked up to the painting and pushed his fingers against it, watching it swivel to a picture of his father at one of his magic shows. "… I'll find that gem, and I'll destroy it. I promise."

~:~

"Thanks for letting me do this, Megure-keibu" Shinmi said as she stepped into the helicopter, a laptop inside the messenger bag she was carrying. "I really appreciate it."

"Right, Shinmi-kun," Megure stepped in after her. "You said your parents know about this, didn't you? I don't want your parents getting mad at me when they find out I let you onto this helicopter."

Never mind the higher ups. It had taken Megure a lot of persuading to allow him and Shinmi replace two of the usual air patrol officers. When he had come up to them asking to allow it to happen, they had demanded to know who he was taking with him. When he had said that he wanted to take a fifteen year old girl on a helicopter with him, Megure had gotten more than a few strange looks. They eventually agreed though when he explained that it was the same person that had been helping them over the last few months, despite their surprise at who the person was.

"Of course they do," she assured the inspector with a smile. "I've been in a helicopter before with my parents anyway, so I don't think they're going to worry too much about me."

Megure looked to Shinmi a while after the helicopter began its journey. She was looking out at the slowly darkening sky. "So, Shinmi-kun, why the sudden interest in thieves? Are you actually considering joining the force when you get older?"

She smiled at him sweetly before turning back to the window, "I guess you can say that I want to prove a point."

~:~

Kaito looked into the mirror in the cop car he was borrowing. "Twenty minutes left…" He pulled the mask over his face, "I'm single, twenty-seven years old, and my name is…" a quick glance at the id next to him, "Sensui Yoichi." He put the officer's hat on, "Right, almost show time." He stepped out of the vehicle with his top hat and suit, casting a last look to the tied up man in the back seat, "I'll be borrowing you for tonight. I do hope that you don't mind to much~"

He maneuvered past initial security easily, and he easily masked the grin on his face as he got closer and closer to his target destination. He was stopped once, and he easily explained that he had found KID's suit and top hat and was supposed to bring it to Inspector Nakamori

"Yes, we were notified about you, but before you go to the inspector, let me see your police ID."

"Yes, sir," Kaito handed over the piece of identification to the higher ranking officer.

"So, what is your name, age, and date of birth," the man briefly looked at the ID before sending a penetrating gaze Kaito's way.

Kaito answered without hesitation, "Sensui Yoichi, aged twenty-seven and born on June second."

"Alright, you can proceed to meet with Inspector Nakamori at once," the officer offered the ID back.

"Yes, sir," Kaito saluted. Right when he reached for it though, the officer swiped it out of his hands.

"One last thing… what's your ID number?"

Kaito paused briefly as the number came to his mind. He saluted, rattling it off, "Six—two—eight—six—zero—five," a brief pause, "five—two—four—eight—one—zero."

"Eh?" The officer gawked in surprise.

Kaito's eyes widened, _This isn't good…_

"Ka-Kaitou KID!"

Kaito sprinted off, and the chase began. As he ran away, a voice inside his head berated him for remembering the ID number. What kind of cop actually remembered their ID number?

* * *

**RAGA: **I'm a Fem!writer by nature, and it's a goal of mine to show that they can be well-written. ^^I especially like that last line, and I was so glad how well it turned out. The Muse's Mask is a personal philosophy of mine to get over public speaking.

I really hope you all enjoyed this! _A Study in Beika-chou: The Casebook of Honma Shinsho _is basically the mystery manga that replaces Detective Conan. The plot of that story won't be covered so much in this, but I might do a tiny spin-off that focuses on the show itself.

Oh, I usually only post once a month, but I couldn't resist posting another one. Enjoy this!

~Lupin


	3. Heist the Third

"What did you say, someone sent from the headquarters?" Nakamori Ginzo asked. He shouted at the officer that had delivered him the news, "I didn't ask for any backup!" He looked out the window with a glare, "I swear, if that's Megure up there…" His fist clenched tightly

"_Nakamori-keibu!"_ a voice came from his hand radio, _"We discovered Kaitou Kid among the guards!"_

"What? He was among our ranks?" Nakamori exclaimed.

"_Yes, Units C and D are in pursuit right now!" _the officer replied. _"There's no mistake. I asked him his name, age and date of birth, but then I asked for his ID number."_

Nakamori paused, "… His ID number?"

"_Yes, I was told that he is likely a very smart person and would remember something a usual person would not. It's thanks to the girl from headquarters."_

"A _girl_?" Nakamori stormed to the window, staring up at the closest helicopter to the tower.

~:~

Her plan was perfect. Kid would never expect his knowledge to be used against him, so he had fallen for it easily. Shinmi spoke into a headset, "Seal all exits from the tower immediately. Make sure he has nowhere to escape from. Anyone that wants to leave has to have authorization from Nakamori-keibu himself."

"_This is Unit D. We've lost him near the restroom on the third floor."_

"Don't worry, he has to be nearby somewhere," Shinmi assured. She consulted the maps of the clock tower. "… There should be a vent inside the restroom, and I'm willing to bet that there are loose screws on it."

"_There are!"_

_Just as I thought. _Shinmi leaned back in her seat, "That air shaft should lead you straight to Kid. Continue your pursuit."

A few moments later, the officer's voice came back, _"We've spotted Kid!"_

Shinmi's smirk said it all. Megure looked at the young girl in awe, "I wasn't sure about you being the anonymous helper, but now I am. You're surprisingly good at this, Shinmi-kun."

She grinned, "Thank you, Megure-keibu."

~:~

Meanwhile, Kaito was having troubles in the air shaft as the officers pursuing him drew closer, _Oi oi… what's up with this? Nakamori-keibu really is on a roll today! …Wait. Maybe it's not Keibu who's leading the force tonight, but who is it?_

~:~

"Megure, that's you up there, isn't it?" Nakamori all but growled into his radio. "This is my operation! Get that girl and your helicopter out of here!"

"_Ah, sorry, sorry."_ Megure's voice came across sheepish_, "I promised her that I'd let her ride in the helicopter. I don't really see how this would be a problem, so—hey!"_

Megure's voice was caught off and replaced with one that sounded terribly young, _"Keibu-san, I'm sorry if I'm disrupting your operation in any way, but I'm going to have to ask you to listen to me if you want to stop Kaitou Kid from obtaining his target tonight."_

"What did you say?" Nakamori's eyes narrowed.

"_As of right now, his plans have been forced to change since he is not able to reach the top level."_ There was a rustling on the other end, _"This is the best time for us to make our move against him."_

"You… what's your name?" Nakamori demanded.

"_My name? Kudo Shinmi… consulting detective."_

"Kudo Shinmi?" Nakamori knew the name. A young actress that was in some sort of mystery drama his daughter watched. Come to think of it, that girl wasn't any older than Aoko! What idiot over at headquarters gave her the right to barge in on his operation?

"Kudo Shinmi the actress?" An officer looked surprised, "The headquarters said they found out who the anonymous helper that's been solving all those murder cases is, and they said they were

sending them over." His eyes widened, "You don't think it's the girl, do you?"

"Who cares?" Nakamori went back to the radio, "Why the hell are you in my area? We're after a thief, not a murderer!"

The other officer laughed, "Nakamori-keibu, isn't she still in junior high? She doesn't have her own area—!" The officer was quickly silenced.

"Anyway, this is a police matter. You and your helicopter need to leave right now!"

"Nakamori-keibu, that girl helped Unit D find Kid, and they're now in pursuit!" Another officer spoke up.

"Wait, _what_?"

~:~

"Seems that I've caused a bit of an uproar…" Shinmi mused aloud, a light smiled on her face as she listened to the conversation, "The inspector even forgot to turn me off…"

"_This is Nakamora from Unit D."_ An officer's voice came up_, "I'm pretty sure Kid is about to exit the air vent. What should I do?"_

"Stay calm," she commanded. "We might be able to trap him. Do you know where you are at the moment?"

"… _It's very dark in here, so I'm not sure. I entered on the third floor, but I might be near the fourth by now."_

Shinmi once again consulted the maps on the laptop as she spoke, Megure watching her work with wide eyes, "We've already sealed off all twenty-eight exits, so you can just continue pursuing him." A light smirk came to her face, "There's no escape now." She addressed the officer, "Concentrate on getting to the exit of the vent on the fourth floor and await him."

~:~

Kaito hurried out of the vent and waited for his pursuer. He grinned when he heard the officer say he had lost sight of him. He quietly cleared his throat and lifted a radio to his lips, "I've found Kid!"

He grinned at the shocked officer gazing up at him, "He's on the fourth floor and has taken off the police uniform. Send back up immediately!" And with that, Kaito sprayed a can of sleeping gas into the man's face, "Oyasumi nasai~!"

~:~

"Alright! Everyone get to the fourth floor and catch that thief! Don't let him get away!" Nakamori shouted into his radio. "Let's see her top that!" Satisfied, he then remembered something, "How does that girl in the helicopter know the building's layout so well?"

"Oh, I sent her all of the data on the computers!"

Nakamori's hand clenched into a fist, "You idiot…"

~:~

_Why on earth would that thief take off the police uniform now?_ Shinmi thought as she looked to the tower. _There's no strategic advantage offered, even I know that. Unless…._ Her eyes widened, and she looked to the man next to her, "Megure-keibu, can you get us closer to the tower? Any distance is helpful; I need to get a better view."

Megure looked curiously at her, "Sure, but why?"

"Megure-keibu, do you trust me?" Shinmi asked him seriously.

"…Yes…"

She looked at him gratefully, "I needed to hear that; thank you." As they got closer she looked at the clock tower's lack of hands, "Minoru's right about one thing…" Her eyes narrowed as she saw the clock face move. "It's not stable."

"Ah, the helicopter isn't always stable at this—"

She cut him off, "That's not what I meant… That's a screen, and Kid's hiding behind it."

"He is?"

"Yes," she reached into Megure's jacket.

"Shi-Shinmi-kun! What are you—?"

She didn't answer until she found his gun, "You said you trusted me, didn't you?"

"Shinmi-kun…"

It would take two shots to make the screen fall, and she could expose Kaitou Kid easily. Leaning out of the helicopter slightly, she aimed and shot one of the top ropes. A corner flap came off, and she grinned what would later be known as a _Kaitou_ _Grin_.

She adjusted her aim to the adjacent flap, but her finger stilled on the trigger. This shot would make sure Kid got captured, but was that what she wanted? She had had _fun_ chasing the thief, and nothing could compare to that fun. _I don't want to lose this feeling_. If she shot the other top rope, she would lose that feeling for a long time.

_Please, don't regret this._ She moved her hand slightly and shot. The bullet whizzed towards the rope diagonal to the one she had already shot, and the flap came lose.

~:~

Kaito stopped dead in his taunting to Nakamori when he heard the gunshot. The first flap came lose above him, and it took all his training not to drop his Poker Face. When the second shot came he closed his eyes, expecting to be hit by a wave of cool, night air.

He wasn't.

Kaito opened his eyes to see a flap below him billowing. Had the shooter missed? He pushed it in the back of his mind and pulled out his card gun, sending out two shots of his own. As the screen gave away, his hang glider came out.

As he was flying away, his eyes strained to get a glimpse of the helicopter and the shooter. When he saw, Kaito almost faltered with his glider. _Is that… Shinmi?_

_~:~_

Shinmi watched as the final two came lose, and the screen flew away, along with Kid. With a sigh, she leaned back into the helicopter and handed the gun back to a shocked Megure.

"Shinmi-kun," Megure said slowly.

"Yes?" She looked at him, eyes wide and innocent.

He faltered in his words, "W-Where did you learn how to shoot a gun?"

"Hawaii."

* * *

Oh, Hawaii~

So, I was supposed to upload this on Friday, but my family finally moved into our rental house, and we didn't get the internet set up until today. Sorry~


	4. Heist the Fourth

Shinmi grinned to herself as she juggled a soccer ball on her feet, alternating as she walked into her family's library, Sheri and Adler coming in behind her. The heist had been so much _fun_. Shinmi knew that she wanted to meet Kaitou KID at a heist again, and even though she considered this heist a victory in her favor, Shinmi wouldn't mind if KID got away. He was harmless, and he was a fun challenge for her. KID reminded her of her dream of becoming a detective and how fun it could be.

She just had to tell Kaito about it. She took out her phone and was about to dial her cousin's number when it began ringing in her hand. She picked it up eagerly, "Kaito I have greatest new to tell you!"

_"Ah, you do?" _He chuckled on the other end, _"I was just wanted to talk to you about KID's heist tonight."_

If possible, Shinmi's grin grew, "So did I! I went to the heist inside a patrol helicopter, and—"

_"You're the one who shot the screen."_ He finished for her.

"Yeah," Shimi was surprised, "How did you know that?"

_"I heard from Nakamori that some actress showed up at the heist and nearly caught KID." _She could hear the grin in his voice. _"I was watching it from the ground through some binoculars, trying to get a better look at what was going on up there."_

"I shot two diagonals, and he shot the others," Shimi said, referring to the screen. She then remembered something, "Kaito, where did you get your card gun?"

_"Shinmi, you were with me when I made it,"_ Kaito reminded her. _"What are talking about?"_

"Well, KID shot two of the ropes holding the strings, right?"

_"Yeah…"_

"Well, when I was helping the police gather everything for their file on KID, which is _massive_ by the way," Shinmi said, "I found the two bullets from Megure-keibu's gun, but I also found two cards. They looked just like the kind you used in your card gun, so I got kind of curious."

_"Shinmi, are you saying that KID commissioned me to make him a card gun?" _Kaito asked with a laugh, _"I made that thing when I was ten! I made you one too, but you never use it. Maybe KID stole it?"_

"Kaito, you and I both know that the card gun you made me is hidden in my room, cards and all," Shinmi said, and she rolled her eyes. She then sighed, "Maybe KID figured it out himself when he was inactive. He is a magician, so it's natural for him to have a weapon involving cards." She smirked to herself and said, "After all, if a ten year old could make two by himself, I don't doubt that a master thief could make one."

_"Yeah, a _genius t_en year old," _Kaito insisted.

"Sure, think what you want, Kaito," Shinmi said. "_You_ are the one who almost burnt his eye brows off."

_"I didn't know that it was real fire!"_ Kaito defended himself, but he was laughing all the same. Kaito's laughter gradually died down. _"Shinmi? I was wondering something…"_

_"Why'd you do it?" _Kaito asked. _"You should have shot two on the side. KID would have been wrapped up inside the screen, and he couldn't have used his glider to get away."_

"Kaito, I—" she was cut off once again.

_"You let him get away," _Kaito said. _"Why?"_

Shinmi let her soccer ball fall to the floor, and Adler flew down to land on it.

"I… I couldn't, okay?" Shinmi said softly. "This is the first time in a long time that I felt like I haven't just done what Mom and Dad wanted me to do. Remember when I said I wanted to be a detective?"

_"Yeah…"_

"I… I had so much _fun_ going head to head with KID," she said. "I hadn't even used any of my mental energy since that case on the airplane. Even those murders that I would call in and help on; it didn't compare to being there. Tonight, I felt so alive," she said. "I don't want to lose that feeling, so I couldn't do it…."

_"Oh, well then—"_

"There was something else too," this time, Shinmi cut Kaito off. "It was like I had this instinct telling me that I don't want to see KID get caught, but not just because I want to keep challenging him. I feel like if I let KID get caught, something bad is going to happen…" She shook her head, "Kaito… did I do the right thing? I'm not sure if I did; KID is a thief after all."

_"… Shinmi, I'm not sure," _Kaito replied after a while. _"But do you remember what Dad told us when you said Arsene Lupin was a bad guy because he stole things?"_

"Wrong and right is like black and white," Shinmi said the small rhyme and began to juggle her soccer ball again, and Adler was shaken off, "but there's a point when the colors mix and form a grey zone. Sometimes a person who is a white as snow must go deep into grey zone or even darker to uncover a wolf in sheep's clothing." Shinmi said quietly. She remembered the day she had insulted her uncle's hero. It was the day she realized that everything wasn't always black and white, and Shinmi breathed a sigh of relief of what that could mean. "The only way I'll be able to find out if KID's in the black or grey zone is to ask the thief himself." She kicked her ball a little bit harder than she was expecting, "Well, how am I supposed to do that?"

Her eyes widened when she sent both the ball and Adler flying into a painting of her mother and father. Her eyebrow raised when she heard a small click. She slowly walked over to the wall.

_"Oi, Shinmi! What did you just do?"_

"…Nothing…" she said, picking up the dazed dove. Sheri flew down to the two as Shinmi looked up at her parents. They were leaning back to back, and her father was dressed in a long trench coat, holding the mask of Night Baron. Her mother was dressed in a tunica, palla, and stola and was holding the plain white masks of tragedy and comedy. Shinmi stood up and put her hand up against the painting, pushing against it lightly. It swiveled back slightly on gears stiff due to lack of use. Shinmi looked inside hesitantly and was met with a set of stairs that looked to be leading forever downwards. "Oh my gods…"

_"Shinmi, what's going on over there? I heard a crash on your end!"_

"Uh, Kaito?" Shinmi pushed the rest of the painting, "I'm going to have to call you back."

_"Hey, hey, Shinmi—!"_ She hung up, and shoved her phone inside her pocket.

"Adler, Sheri," she looked to the doves, "Should I?"

The doves took off down the stairs.

"Hey, wait up!" Shinmi followed the two down the stairs.

~:~

Shinmi carefully walked down the stairs while searching through her pockets for her pocket flashlight. Upon finding it, she shined it against the descending stairs. They twisted and turned, and Shinmi dutifully continued the downward spiral until she reached a door with Adler and Sheri hovering in front of it. Shining her light on it, she looked it over.

Engraved in the door were opposing masks of comedy and tragedy. Shinmi snorted, so this was one of her mother's hidden rooms. She saw no actual door handle and decided to push it open. She applied a gentle amount of pressure to the door, and took a step back when the eyes and mouths of the masks lit up and screens appeared on the previously clear metal door.

Shinmi peered up close to the door and read each screen, "Like a novena… they were grouped together… add me in, an honorary member." Completing the first mask, Shinmi moved the second. Only the eyes were filled in, and the frowning face of the tragedy mask held a digital keyboard and a space to be filled in with roman letters. "An inspiration, always seen… I adopted the ways of Thalia and Melpomene." Shinmi had to crack a grin at the final line.

_Thalia and Melpomene are two of the nine muses. There is no tenth, but the honorary title is awarded to various women who embody the inspirational quality of the muses. I guess in her own way, Mom is the "Tenth Muse." _She entered her answer into the keyboard, and the door slowly slid open.

* * *

*cough*

... it lives.

Yell at me in your reviews, I won't stop you. I have excuses, but you probably don't care about them.

-Lupin


	5. Heist the Fifth

Shinmi hesitantly took a step inside the room, and motion activated lights came on. As Sheri and Adler flew off to look around on their own, her eyes widened as she looked over the spacious room. "What…"

On the far end of the room, there looked to be a giant closet, probably filled with clothes from her mother's various roles. Shinmi wanted to dismiss this as merely one of her mother's more eccentric ideas, but something inside told her there was more. Her eyes were drawn to a table a few feet away from her with a few newspapers were lying on top of it. After walking over to the table, Shinmi read the headlines aloud, "Kid flies solo once again." Shinmi picked up the newspaper. "During last night's heist, Kaitou Kid informed his audience that he had lost his 'source of inspiration.' This has been deduced to mean the nameless woman dressed in black and gold that began to accompany him on his heists three years ago. Every time he would mention his source of inspiration, this woman would make an appearance…"

Shinmi traded this newspaper for another, "Kid's inspiration returns to the skies." As Shinmi read the article about the woman who had returned with a bang six years later, she was thinking. The first thought that came to mind, well, she didn't want to believe that. The second thought, she could deal with. However, the large, hidden room was indicating towards the former, and Shinmi had a sinking feeling in her stomach. She put the newspaper down and made her way over to the closet where her doves had disappeared to.

Her eyes widened when she say how far back the room went, and she looked over the multitude of clothing for all ages, both male and female. She was mildly disturbed to see the face masks, but she pressed on. At the end of the closet, there was a tall three way mirror with a circular platform before it. When Shinmi stepped on the platform, mechanical arms came from behind the mirror and held out various items of clothing, a sleeveless and long-sleeved leotard tuxedo with a golden torso and a pitch black upper shirt, a silk bow tie the same golden color as the leo, and a pair of black shorts and tights accompanied by silk black gloves.

More sounds were heard as gears moved slowly from lack of use, and Shinmi turned around to see trays held up to her with various gadgets. The tray right in front of her held a dark, medieval mask that would cover one eye and a black top hat with a golden ribbon around the base. To the left and right were two arms that held up a black cape and a hooded cloak respectively. Shinmi picked up the mask.

The metallic black mask had three points, the one in the middle being golden. Instead of an eye hole, there was a dark lens on top of it. She hesitantly put the mask up to her right eye, and it fit on her face nearly perfectly. Looking through the lens, Shinmi saw thin cross-hairs. With a sigh, Shinmi removed the mask, and set it back on the tray. She took a step forward, and the mechanical arms retracted, allowing her to step down. Shinmi sat on the platform with a frown, and Adler and Sheri sensed their master's darkening mood and came to her side.

Shinmi thought back to the newspapers, the first dating back to nearly seventeen years ago when the woman disappeared, and it had been a little over a decade ago when she returned for the final two years of Kid's heists, before his reappearance. Shinmi flopped back on the platform, "My mother is a thief. She started three years before I was born, and stopped when she became pregnant with me. When I was six and started acting, she started again." She looked up at Sheri and Adler, who were flying above her face, "That sound about right, you two?"

~:~

Shinmi didn't know how long she had lain there, looking at her mother in a new light. For once, she didn't really know what to do. Her father had obviously known about her secret life, but did anyone else?

Agasa.

The name appeared in her head almost instantly. He had to know, didn't he? After all, she was usually in his care when her parents weren't around. Even now, while they were gallivanting across America, he was supposed to check up on her every few days. Shinmi decided she would go to him first.

She left the closet and left her mother's secret room, Sheri and Adler close behind. Back inside the library, she swiveled the door to show her parents' portrait once more, but she paused when she saw the other end. Instead the gears she was expecting, the other side was a portrait of her mother dressed in her "uniform." It was the sleeveless one, and she had the cloak on. Shinmi assumed wearing the hat was reserved specifically for the cape and long sleeved leo as her mother had the hood pulled over her head, shadowing her face, and the hat was nowhere to be seen. Shinmi sighed and reoriented the door.

~:~

The next morning, Shinmi didn't have to go to the set that day, but she had an interview that afternoon with Minoru and Hisao for the movie's release. She decided that she was going to spend the morning interrogating her neighbor. After digging through her clothes, Shinmi had found the card gun Kaito had made her and decided to bring it with her in case Agasa refused to tell her anything. After a few test shots, Shinmi was ready.

As she walked by her window, something caught her eye. Standing in front of the gates with a stubborn look on her face was one Mouri Ran. Shinmi cringed; Shinichi had officially left Teitan after they graduated middle school to do online schooling. In reality, Shinmi had chalked up too many tardies for her disguise, and her parents had gotten her a tutor like any other child actor. That had been a few months ago, and Ran had yelled and screamed at her for days on end and refused to even speak to her. This had to be the first time she had actively sought out her old friend, and Shinmi didn't think it would be pleasant.

Shinmi grabbed a hat and a hooded sweatshirt. She put her card gun inside the front pocket of the sweatshirt. After tying her hair up loosely, Shinmi put the hat on and the hood over the hat. With that, she left her house.

"Oi, Ran," she called in Shinichi's voice as she walked to the gate, "is there a reason you're here?"

"Shinichi!" Ran eye's widened when she walked out.

"That's my name," Shinmi said with an amused smirk. When she glowered at her, she laughed. "So, what do you want?"

"You went up against Kaitou Kid, didn't you?" she asked him.

"E-eh?" Shinmi raised a brow. _How does she know about that? And why does she think it was Shinichi?_

She shoved a paper in his face, "It says a teenage detective went up against the thief last night and their name is Kudou. How many Kudou's do you know?"

"Ah… they wrote about me?" Shimi asked with a hint of egotism. "They spoke about how great a detective I am, didn't they?"

"Shinichi! This is serious!" Ran said. "You quit school so you could be a detective and chase thieves! That's dangerous!"

"Don't worry about it, Ran," Shinmi said dismissively. She gave her a reassuring grin, "Nothing's going to happen to me."

"You never know, Shinichi!" Ran protested. "Something could happen!"

"Ran, calm down," she put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and smirked at her. "I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

"Shinichi…" Ran's cheeks tinted a shade of pink, and Shinmi peered in close.

"Do you have a fever or something?"

"N-no!" Ran pushed her away. "I've got to go to school, bye!"

"Huh, what was that about…?" Shinmi wondered briefly before she shrugged and went next door. Instead of choosing to use the key she had made, she rang the doorbell and steadied her hand on her gun.

Agasa raised his brow when he saw her, "Did you lose your key?"

"No, I just didn't feel like using it," Shinmi said as she entered his house. She removed her hood and her hat. "Hakase…"

The man turned to look back at her and was met with the barrel of her card gun, "Sh-shinmi?!"

"I have questions, and you have answers." Shinmi leveled her gun. "We need to have a chat, Hakase."

Agasa went cross-eyed, "About what?!"

"Kaitou Kid and his source of inspiration," she replied.

Agasa faltered for a moment before replying, "I have no idea what you're talking about, Shinmi. Is this about the heist last—!"

Shinmi fired a warning shot, and a card whizzed past his ears and thudded into the wall. She smirked at him, "I'm going to be asking the questions, Hakase."

The professor held up his hands in surrender.

Shinmi grinned, "Thank you for being reasonable, Hakase. Let's go to the kitchen; I haven't had breakfast yet."

"You mean your morning cup of coffee," the man mumbled under his breath as he headed to the kitchen.

"Which one of us has the gun, Hakase~?" Shinmi chimed with a smile, eyes closed.

~:~

Shinmi savored her cup of coffee with a soft smile, her card gun lying on the table. She set the cup down and gave Agasa a hard look, "So, back to the reason I came here. I know about my mother's former night job." Her hand inched towards her hand gun, "So do you. True or false?"

Agasa opened his mouth, "Actually…"

Shinmi shot the wall behind Agasa, "_True or false, Hakase_?"

"T-true," he replied with a gulp. "How do you know I know?"

"Her mask is one of your inventions, I'm guessing." Shinmi said and took a sip of coffee. "What does it do?"

"It has a built-in scope, night-vision, and bullet-proof glass," Agasa rattled off. "There's a tracker for Kid's monocle if you press the middle point."

Shinmi's eyes narrowed, "Why is it bullet proof? Was someone targeting them?"

"No—!" A card flew by his face, and Agasa changed the answer, "I don't know who they are!"

"But someone was after them with enough contempt to shoot at them," Shinmi said thoughtfully. A thought then occurred to her, "Did Kid die?"

Agasa looked at her with wide eyes, "Why do you think that?"

"They stopped their heists at an abrupt time, no warning at all," Shinmi said. "Mom's still alive, and it's not like they stopped because of her. I was already old enough for her to leave the house, and you were there to stop me from doing anything to find her out." She picked up her coffee mug and took a sip. "That leads me to believe that something happened to Kid. You didn't make his gadgets, did you?"

"All he had was a hang glider cape at the time, and he created that himself. I made your mother's two hang gliders after his design."

"So, he was completely open…" Shinmi set her cup down. "He died; he was killed by the people after them. That means this a new Kid that is doing heists right now." She frowned in thought, "Do you know who the original was?"

Agasa shook his head, "I had nothing to do with Kaitou Kid. I had contact with him through your father; I never met the man behind the monocle."

"… I have one more question, Hakase…" Shinmi said slowly.

"What?" Agasa asked carefully.

"What was her name?"

* * *

**Guest:** Thanks so much for the compliments! And here is your update!

First and foremost, thank you to all my new followers on this story. I really appreciate you taking the time to read this. I'd like to dedicate this chapter to all of you and my old watchers as well.

Second, there's a new cover for this, and it features Kid and Shinmi dressed as her alter ego who has yet to be named. XD Wait 'till the next chapter!

This cover was drawn by **RedRegret** on deviantart, and there is a link to it on my profile under Random Thoughts.

Third, if you're wondering, at this time, Shinmi, Kaito, Ran, etc. are all in their first year of high school. There was a time-skip after the first scene in the second chapter.

Fourth, I'm not doing Conan. And yes, I have a way around it. You'll just have to wait and see~ We're about a year in-story away from the roller coaster incident.

Fifth, any and all reviews are appreciated. Any questions you have will be answered to the best of my ability without spoiling the story.

**Edit:** Okay, a reviewer brought up Shinmi's apparent OOC-ness when confronting Agasa, and I'm sure a lot of you are thinking the same thing.

Her confrontation parallels Kaito's confrontation of Jii in Magic Kaito, and I must say hers is actually nicer. Kaito basically outlined Jii's body with cards and had the old man shaking up against a wall, while Shinmi only fired a few warning shots.

Since you can't see Agasa's thoughts as it's in Shinmi's POV, you don't see that his mind is working as well. Of course he's worried, but he knows Shinmi wouldn't actually try to hurt him. Like she said, he was always there for her when her parents weren't. He was sworn to secrecy, so he's reluctant to tell her, so she had to prompt him somehow.

Was there another way? Possibly, but Shinmi's on edge from discovering everything. In the next chapter, she does apologize to him sheepishly, and he notes that he knew she wasn't going to do anything to him.

'Til next time,

~Lupin


	6. Heist the Sixth

"Ah… I believe it was Golden… something," Agasa said, deep in thought. "It had something to do with mythology…"

"Was it Muse?" Shinmi asked curiously. "You know, the Nine Muses, sometimes called the goddesses of inspiration in literature and the arts?" She put her hand to her chin, "Kid did always call her his source of inspiration." She snorted, "There would be an obvious connection to Mom though; she liked to call herself the Tenth Muse."

"No, it wasn't Muse…"

"Eh?" Shinmi raised a brow in mild surprise. "It's not? I guess she gave it more thought than that… a siren? No, that would have a connection to water…" She looked to Agasa when she got a thought, "Why is Kid called Kid?"

"Huh?"

"He's a criminal, but why does he have a name like Kid the Phantom Thief?" Shinmi asked.

"Ah, your father named him that, I know that much," Agasa replied easily. "He used to be called 1412, as that was his criminal identification number, but your father noticed the numbers fit together in a curious way, spelling 'KID' in capital letters. It was probably meant to be a joke between the two, but the name stuck. The name really fit your mother than Kid, as she was the one who was visibly seen playing with police, like a mischievous child." Agasa chuckled, "She really was a free spirit when she was at heists."

_A free spirit…? _Shinmi's head snapped up, "Was she called Golden Nymph?"

"That's it!" Agasa looked at her curiously, "How did you know though?"

"Nymphs were practically immortal spirits of nature that played around with humans," Shinmi said. "A mischievous kid and a nymph would make a nice pair in regards to trickery."

"I guess your father named both of them then…"

Shinmi then remembered something, "Oh, and Hakase?" She gave him a sheepish grin, "Sorry about the cards."

Agasa laughed awkwardly, "Ah, it's okay. I figured that you wouldn't actually try to hit me."

"It's just…" She trailed off as she ran her fingers through her hair in frustration, "This is just so odd. I mean, really? Mom moonlighting as a thief? I'd like to believe that she's only so eccentric, and she would stop before she went _that_ far, but all the signs point to her…" She sighed, "There's only one truth, after all."

"Ah, are you going to be okay now that you know this?" Agasa asked. "You parents had me sworn to secrecy for a reason…"

She leaned back into her chair and said, "No, no, I'll be fine. Thanks for telling me everything you know, Agaasa-hakase." She gave him a grateful smile, "I appreciate you being honest with me." She then took on a calculating disposition, "Now all I have to do is actually meet Kid and ask him some questions…"

~:~

Shinmi grinned like the Cheshire cat when she got into the car with Minoru and Hisao. "I believe somebody owes me an apology~"

Minoru rose a brow, "Eh, why?"

She gave him a dry look, "I won the lottery. Come on, it's in the papers, I went up against Kid last night."

Hisao smirked, "I thought that was the high school detective, Kudo Shinichi who dropped off the face of the earth after he finished middle school, only appearing to solve cases that leave the police flabbergasted."

Minoru grinned, "That is, if the anonymous tip doesn't solve it before he has a chance to get there."

She couldn't help but laugh as the car drove to the TV station, "Ah, but the first name was never actually given, so it could have been either one of us."

"Who's the more likely candidate?" Hisao challenged.

"Who exactly did you two tell they couldn't go up against Kid?" Shinmi asked in return.

"Seeing as we've never met Kudou Shinichi before—"

"For your own sake, of course," Hisao cut in.

"—I'd have to say it was you," Minoru finished.

"But, you're an actress, not a detective," Hisao reminded her innocently. "How exactly are we supposed to believe that you got up in a police helicopter?"

Shinmi pouted, "Fine, you got me. There's no way any one would let me up there. It was obviously Kudou Shinichi." She shrugged, "I guess it would be pretty cool to say I actually did that."

There was a brief pause before the three of them began to laugh quietly.

"So, how was it?" Minoru asked when he had gotten his laughter under control. He leaned his body against Hisao's. "Where you scared at all?" His eyes were wide with excitement and curiosity.

"It was actually a lot of fun," Shinmi said with a smile. "Kid is really smart, and it was really exciting going up against him. To try and figure out just what he was thinking was just…" She sighed with a grin, "It was awesome."

"Of course it was fun for her." Hisao pushed Minoru off of him with a snort, "You're talking to Kudou Shinmi, the anonymous savior of the police force. When has she ever been scared of anything?"

"One of these days, I'll find out your weakness," Minoru promised. "It'll happen."

"Have at it, Sherlock," Shinmi challenged with a cocky grin. "We'll see what happens."

~:~

The interview had started off uneventful. They talked about their movie, Hisao acted like he cared more than he actually did, Shinmi and Minoru pretended to flirt with each other, and it was all a joke between the three of them.

"You three are all so close with each other, aren't you?" their interviewer, a twenty-something year old women who was most definitely _not_ a natural blonde gave them a toothy smile.

Hisao gave her a charming smile in return, his voice smooth, "We've been together since we were eleven, and I think we're just like a family now."

"I can't help but agree," Minoru said with a childish grin. "We hang out together when we're not filming, and we like the same things. We're like the Three Musketeers."

When the woman looked to Shimi, the actress flashed her sweetest smile at woman. "During the casting, Minoru and Hisao were the two that I was with during readings most of the time, and afterwards, we'd just go read the manga together. I love these guys."

"You'll be gaining a fourth musketeer next season though, won't you?" the interviewer asked. "The character representing Arsene Lupin is transfering to their school during their second year."

"I'm excited," Minoru immediately said. "It's going to be awesome get a new cast member."

"It'll be interesting to see his chemistry with Shinmi," Hisao said, glancing at her. "He is playing her ex-boyfriend trying to win her back, after all."

"I do hope we get along well enough for it to not be awkward," Shinmi said. She shrugged, "With Minoru, we just seem to mesh with each other, so it works."

Minoru and Shinmi both ignored the woman's supposedly knowing look she gave the two of them. She then asked, "Do you have anybody you would enjoy working with? As the character is designed after Kaitou Kid himself, do you have any actor you think fits the bill?"

"Well, if we're talking about Kaitou Kid, I think we'd have to go with magicians…" Hisao trailed off.

"And if we're talking magicians, I can only think of one person. He's not an actor though…" Minoru finished the thought process, and the two teenagers, looked to Shinmi.

"No, never." Shinmi immediately said, knowing exactly who they were talking about.

"Who?" The interviewer was intrigued and she leaned in closer. "Is he an old boyfriend of yours, Shinmi-chan?"

She had to refrain from snorting, "No, he's my cousin, and he's the best magician alive. I'm not even saying it because we're related. He's just that amazing."

"And I'm pretty sure he's Kid's biggest fan," Hisao said.

"He would be the perfect match for the character if he was actually an actor," Minoru said.

"This could be the role for him to break into the business," the interviewer said.

Shinmi shook her head with a smile, "As fun as it would be to work with him, I doubt he'd actually do it." She laughed lightly, "He basically does what he wants, and you couldn't stop him no matter how hard you tried." A thought crossed through her mind, and her internal smile faltered while her mask slammed in place.

"He sounds like an interesting person!"

She smiled softly, the gears turning in her head as she made a plan, "He sure is…"

~:~

"Kaito… why are we doing this?" Shinmi asked as she loaded up her card gun. They were standing in the living room of the Kudou mansion decked out in green camouflage, and dark lines were marked under their eyes. Adler and Sheri were holding up a sling backpack carrying various supplies to be used during the day. "I swear, your ideas get more eccentric every day."

"You're the one who asked me for help in using your card gun," Kaito pointed out as he adjusted his hat. His two main doves, Blanc and Lupin, were holding up a pack of his own, and Shinmi could have sworn she saw flash bombs. "This is just the most fun way for us to do it!"

"Fine," Shinmi sighed. "Who set up this obstacle course anyway?"

"One of Dad's old assistants," Kaito replied easily. "He came back into town about a few months ago, and when you asked me for help last week, I asked if he could set something up for us to play around in. That's why I couldn't do anything with you yet."

"Sounds fair enough," Shinmi nodded in agreement. "You don't know where it is?"

"Nope," Kaito confirmed. "I have no advantage over you at all." He grinned, "That doesn't mean I can't set any traps for you though~"

Shinmi smirked in return, "Who says I'll fall for them?"

"True, true…" Kaito let out an excited sigh, and he grinned at Shinmi in anticipation, "You ready? We're supposed to meet him at the café Poirot."

Shinmi shook her head with a grin, "I doubt I'll ever be ready for this no matter how much I go over the supplies I'm bringing." She accepted her pack and slung it over her shoulder. "Let's do this."

They went out the front door, and Shinmi froze. Standing in front of the gate was, once again, Mouri Ran. Shinmi groaned, "What is she doing here?"

"Isn't she still mad at you?" Kaito asked as they watched her from afar.

"We made up the day after the first Kid heist I went to," Shinmi shrugged. "I thought she was sick though, so we didn't really talk much."

"So, if we go out there, she'll think I'm you," Kaito said. "Won't she?"

"Yep," Shinmi nodded. "Back door?"

"Back door," Kaito agreed.

"She'll give up eventually," Shinmi said, more to assure her own self. She did feel somewhat guilty for leaving Ran like that, but she just couldn't deal with her at the time.

"Oh, and speaking of Kid's heists," Kaito said as the went to exit through the back of the house, "You won't _believe _who transferred into my class..."

~:~

"Okay, so the rules are as follows: we can only use what we have in our packs, our card guns, and two doves," Kaito clarified. "We're each allowed one deck, and the game ends when all the targets have been marked or we both run out of cards. Only bulls-eyes count, and we can only make one attempt on each target. The closer to the center the better, so even if it's already been hit, the other person can still try." He grinned, "Sabotage is allowed."

"How many targets?" Shinmi asked.

Kaito looked to the old man standing before them, "How many, Jii-chan?"

"Seventy-three, Kaito-bocchama."

"Are you ready to begin Card War One?" Kaito grinned.

Shinmi let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in, "Please start the countdown Jii-san, before I regret this."

"Of course," Jiii nodded. "Take your places at the gate… get set… begin!"

* * *

**herseybarrules:** Here's you're update~

Because I love you guys, I'm aiming for twice a month instead of monthly updates. So far, so good, right? Right? ... I'll do my best.

Lessee, Shinmi doesn't know Kaito's Kid just yet, but she's getting there. CWI is going to sway her thoughts so much, especially after the next heist.

And a show of hands, who thought the name was going to be Golden Muse? XP I think I hinted at that so much, but the whole muse thing isn't moot. When Shinmi finally becomes a phantom thief, she introduces herself in a DC Movie 3-esque style. I just find a Kid and Nymph such a mischievous pair~

And(x2) Minoru and Hisao know all about Shinmi's multiple identities. Why? Because they help her cover more often than not, and Shinmi knows some of their secrets that I may or may not bring in. Still debating on those... oh, and anyone who can guess one of them gets... something.

Thank you to my reviewers and to my new followers! :D

Happy Holidays to everyone, and I'll see you all in the new year,

~Lupin


	7. Heist the Seventh

The two cousins hadn't raced into the area. Instead, they had looked at each, grinned, and calmly walked in, forking off at different directions. This wasn't a time for rushed movements; this was war, and this war was dangerous.

Kaito needed a plan, a good plan.

Shinmi had already held his criminal record in her hands and let him go free. He couldn't underestimate her ability to see through his traps. But, neither of them had any knowledge of the terrain this time, Kaito reminded himself as he came up to first target a few meters away through some foliage. With a grin, he shot his gun, mentally calculating the ricochets that would happen due to the greenery. It hit the bull's-eye with a thud. Reaching into his pocket, he took out a mirrored card sheath. He held it up to Blanc, "If you would…"

The dove carried the sheath over the imbedded card and with the help of Lupin, she lowered it on top of the card. Now, to the plain eye, there was nothing there.

Kaito set to work, taking a vial filled with powder from his bag. The dark powder was sprinkled onto the optimum firing position, and Kaito sprayed it lightly with water. He smirked when it changed colors and ran off.

_Sorry, Shin-chan, but war's war._

~:~

Shinmi needed a plan, a damn good plan.

She reached into her pouch and took out Nymph's mask and looked down on a target from a tree. Adjusting herself slightly, she shot and nodded to herself when she made it just inside the bull's-eye range. Kaito would definitely try to one up her on that target, and she was going to use that to advantage. With a smile, she unloaded her gun, and reloaded it with a thin piece of plastic the same size as her cards. Looking through the scope, she fired the clear object and grinned when it nailed the bull's-eye. A clear liquid squirted out onto the target, and Alder flew to pick up the plastic remains.

Pocketing the evidence and the mask, Shinmi took off into the trees.

~:~Kaito-1, Shinmi-1 ~:~

Kaito grumbled as he went searching for a new target that _hadn't_ been coated with whatever it was Shinmi had with her. The stupid stuff when on clear, and she had covered about three targets with it. Whenever he had shot at the first one, he had thought it was an easy aerial shot, but _no_, the card hit the center of the bull's-eye and bounced off, not disturbing Shinmi's card which was resting peacefully just inside the bull's-eye. Upon further inspection, he noticed the annoying oil-like substance that was hardening.

With an annoyed sigh, Kaito nailed a target hanging off a tree in the very center and was very pleased to see it hadn't bounced off. He would have to have Blanc and Lupin check every single one from now on. As he traveled on the ground, he just hoped that Shinmi had fallen for some of the traps he had set, he was already out three cards thanks to his cousin's other surprises.

~:~ Kaito-12, Shinmi-9~:~

Shinmi jumped down from a tree and groaned as she landed with a squish. "_What_ did I just step into?" she whispered to herself. She tried to lift up her foot and failed. Bracing herself, she looked down to see some sort of dark green _thing_ crusting over on her shoes. She reached into bag and took out the pick which she had thoughtfully chosen to bring with her and began to the task to free her shoes.

Once she had scraped enough of the annoying concoction to be able to walk, Shinmi looked around for the target she had been planning on hitting. Upon finding it to be a much easier angle to hit than she expected, Shinmi shot the target and almost growled when the light around it shifted and her card fell.

Mirrors.

Of course, Kaito had to have mirrors too.

_That's it_; she thought as she climbed back up the tree she had descended just minutes before. _I'm done with this._ "Sheri, Adler, the next target we find, we're passing it over, but we're leaving Kaito a present, okay?"

The two doves cooed in anticipation.

~:~Kaito-24, Shinmi-19~:~

As a minor explosion went off and Kaito found himself engulfed in smoke, he had a thought:

What. The. Crap.

What was up with Shinmi using translucent traps? Since when was good at doing traps general? He grumbled as he mourned the loss of another card… and his clothing that was now a very conspicuous white. He never recalled showing her how he made his bombs, so she obviously picked it up from watching Kid's go off.

Stupid genius detective.

You know what? Kaito was going to throw caution to freaking outer space. This may have been war before, but now? It was _war._

Reaching into his pocket, Kaito put on his monocle, relaxing as he felt the cool metal. He looked through the lightly tinted lens and made out the faint cross-hairs of a slightly darker color only because he knew where they were supposed to be.

He was a master at not being seen even in Kid's white costume. To keep Shinmi from seeing his monocle would be no trouble. Even if she saw it, he was Kid's biggest fan, of course he made a replica.

Letting out an excited breath, Kaito grinned and raced off.

~:~Kaito-33, Shinmi-29~:~

Seventy-three targets. She had hit thirty-one, and Kaito had gotten at least that many. So, at least sixty-two targets had been hit. She had eleven targets left at most, but she sliced that in half, leaving her with five just to be safe. Shinmi assessed the damage done to her:

Her clothes were pink, her hair was purple, and _ugh, _what was that smell?

Shinmi concluded that death defying stunts must have been in her blood because she was sure that falling out of that tree when a smoke bomb exploded in her face should have broken at least one bone, but she had somehow managed to land in a somewhat comfortable position, not harming herself aside from a few scratches.

But Kaito must have been a freaking monkey because she was staring down at him, and with all the traps she had lain, he'd only fallen into one or two.

Stupid acrobatic magician.

As her cousin ran towards another target, she could have sworn she saw something swinging by his face. She narrowed her eyes as she peered through the mask's scope; it was a small triangular charm with what looked like a clover on it. Her breath caught.

Kaito, he couldn't be Kid, could he? Sure, she'd already established that there was a new Kid, and the previous one was dead, and so was her uncle… Sure, it would explain how Kaito and Kid appeared to have the same card gun, and it would explain why Kaito had said the things he did, but why was it working out this way? How often did things just fall into her lap like this?

"There's only one truth…" She'd go through her plans to ask the thief some questions at the next heist, and she'd do everything in her power to prove that Kaito wasn't the thief. If he was though… she'd deal with that when and if it came to that.

~:~Kaito-35, Shinmi-31~:~

"I am running out of time, and I can't find anymore freaking targets…!" Kaito groaned as he looked around. He was sure that there had to be at least one more target because he _knew_ Shinmi couldn't have beaten him just yet. He had begun traveling through the trees, and he had run into more than enough of Shinmi's traps. He'd been able to see through most of them, and he noticed, with glee, that she had run into a fair share of his as he saw the residue.

He leaped to another limb, and he saw it.

There was one more target, but it was too far to shoot from where he was. Eyes on the prize, Kaito took off.

~:~Kaito-36, Shinmi-35~:~

Okay, so either Kaito had won, or there were no more freaking targets. She had brought her total up to a nice thirty-six, and she needed two more…just two.

Careful to avoid the wires, Shinmi hung off a limb from her legs, ignoring how her shirt began to ride up and the blood that was flowing to her head. She took a deep breath and fired. The card soared through the wires, nailing the target in the center.

Now she only needed one.

She'd covered the outside, but Shinmi had yet to search the center of the giant area which she wondered how exactly Jii had gotten his hands on. It was just too insanely large for her to wrap her mind around it. Then again, if Kaito had meant that the old man had been his father's assistant as Kaitou Kid, it could be believable.

Gah, she needed to stop thinking about that.

Like right now.

Mind made up, Shinmi stuffed the scope in her pack and headed to what she assumed was the center. There was going to be a showdown, she could feel it.

~:~Kaito-36, Shinmi-36~:~

Kaito removed his monocle; it would be an easy shot, no cross hairs needed. He moved to another limb and lined up the shot. With a click, he sent the card flying.

His jaw dropped when it was intercepted by a card with a different backside color and both fell to the ground.

He looked to the source of the card and saw Shinmi smirking at him a few trees to his right. He pouted, "Not fair, Shin-chan."

She grinned, "All's fair in love and war, Kai."

"True, true…" he allowed. "Your hair looks lovely, by the way."

"Why thank you. I must say that white is most certainly your color."

"Makes me look more like my idol; I'm not complaining," he replied with a cheeky grin. When he saw something flash through his cousin's eyes, he continued. "How many do you have?"

"Thirty-six, same as you I'm assuming," she replied.

"Wanna have a shoot-out?" he asked with a grin.

She rolled her eyes, "Sure."

~:~Kaito-36, Shinmi-36~:~

A few meters away from the target, Kaito and Shinmi stood back to back, guns ready.

"Whoever knocks the gun out of the other's hand gets the right to shoot," Kaito said. "Deal?"

"Deal," Shinmi agreed. "A simple count down… you start."

"One…"

They each took a step.

"Two…"

Another step was taken.

"Three!"

A final step was taken, and the two cousins turned. They didn't turn to each other though. They both turned to the target and fired off a shot. The cards whirled towards the target, and each willed their cards to move faster. As two thuds were heard, both of their jaws dropped.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me," Shinmi groaned, throwing her head back.

"There's _no_ way," Kaito gaped. "This can't be happening."

"Kaito…" Shinmi asked quietly.

"Yes…?" Kaito replied as he stared forlornly at the target.

"Instead of arguing over this," she said, refusing to even look at the target again, "let's just call it a draw, okay?"

"Sounds good to me," Kaito said with a nod. Reaching into his pack, he tossed Shinmi a bottle. "That'll get rid of the dye in your hair."

Shinmi tossed him a bottle in return, "That'll get rid of all the white."

"Thanks."

"You too."

Both put the bottles in their packs, returned their guns to the holsters, and called their doves down to them.

"Jii-san, he's a smart old man," Shinmi noted.

"Ah, very smart," Kaito agreed.

And so, the two cousins wrapped an arm around each other's shoulders and headed towards the exit of the obstacle course, leaving the final target and not looking back.

The target sat in its place, untouched by either card, which had both thudded into the ground below it. On the bull's-eye, was a clear plastic covering which after the impact from the two cards revealed large kanji easily readable by the two cousins.

"_This target is invalid, sorry."_

~:~Kaito-36, Shinmi-36~:~

And so, Card War I ended.

* * *

**RoseAngel16:** ^^; I hope the ending didn't disappoint you... Ah, no offense taken. I for one do love KaiShin, and I would make it that way if I hadn't already decided on the pairing, and it doesn't involve that, sorry. The pairing is either HeiShin or HakuShin, but I'm not saying which one yet~ I'm glad you still like it despite the lack of approved pairing getting on your nerves :D

**Guest **(the first one): T-T Thank you so much for that compliment! I really appreciate it! I'll really make an effort with this one!

**Guest **(the second one): Here's your update~

XD It's a tie.

And I guess I lied, as I'm updating and it's not 2013 yet. Ah, well, no one's complaining. I guess this is a holiday thing, so enjoy~

Next chapter: The two Sherlock fans meet, and another heist will begin~!

Thank you to my new followers and the reviewers who reviewed the last chapter! I was expecting, like no one to like this, so you're all very appreciated :3

And really, the next update will be next Saturday or Sunday! XD

~Lupin


	8. Heist the Eighth

Tugging the brim of her hat down further, Shinmi walked through the gates of Edoka High as the final bell of the day sounded. She leaned against the brick fence, eyes on the door, waiting for Kaito to come out. They had to practice for a show that was going to be that weekend, and then she would be reading lines with Lupin-hopefuls until Kid's heist started. She sighed softly; there had yet to be one actor she thought could play the part perfectly and not make Hisao accidently-on-purpose throw his book of Sudoku puzzles at Minoru and 'miss' as Shinmi would leave with the actor to read lines. Minoru would gravitate towards the door after talking to them, and Shinmi could only hope that they sucked at acting if their threesome had a negative view of them.

She gave Kaito a half-wave as he came out of the school, followed by a girl who looked a heck of a lot like Ran did and… was that the detective who went to Kid's heists? As Kaito approached then, she pushed up her glasses which she had totally stolen from her father and had Agasa change the lens.

"You ready to go, Kai?" She asked, and she feigned confusion when the girl gave a small gasp. "Um, what is it?"

"You… you're… !"

"I believe Aoko-kun means to ask if you are Kudou Shinmi," the detective, she believed his name was Hakuba, said. He gave her a curious look as he scrutinized her, "I'll admit the resemblance is… uncanny."

"Ah, no, sorry," Shinmi said sheepishly with an embarrassed grin. "My name's Keiko. I'm Kaito's cousin."

"Eh, really?" Aoko gaped. "You look just like her though!"

"Well, I also look a lot like Kaito," she replied with a shrug.

"Mou, I guess that's true…" Aoko agreed. "You look a lot better than that Bakaito."

"Still though," Hakuba's face was contemplative. "Your resemblance to that actress is an extremely great one."

Shinmi shrugged, "Yeah, I get that a lot. We're not related as far as I know though."

Hakuba didn't look too convinced, but when he sighed, she knew he let it drop. However, he didn't stop talking to her. "Keiko-san, are you aware that your cousin is Kaitou Kid?"

Shinmi blinked, "Isn't Kid like, forty or something?"

"Not according to the hair sample I got of him," Hakuba said with a smirk.

Shinmi tilted her head to the side, "Well, I guess he is rather spry for a man that age…"

"You don't actually _believe_ him, do you?" Kaito gaped. "What ever happened to family taking care of family?" He then remembered something, "And I was even handcuffed to him during the last heist!"

Shinmi rolled her eyes, "I don't actually believe him, Kai." _Yes, you do_. "You've never done anything that would make me think you could be Kid." _Actually, he's done a lot of things. And you even saw him with the monocle. That's about as much proof as you need._ "I do know that you're his biggest fan, ever. He's too great of a magician not to be your idol." _No, everything you've seen Kid do, Kaito could do just as easily._ She smiled, "Well, Kaito and I really need to get going. It was nice meeting you both!"

Hakuba nodded, "Likewise."

The cousins departed with a wave. When they were far enough away, Kaito asked, "Do you think Hakuba believes you?"

Shinmi snorted, "Not in the slightest."

~:~

Kaito and Shinmi lay on the grass in the background of the Kuroba house. The yard was strewn with confetti, glitter, silly string, and feathers. Cards were stuck into trees, and the doves had already flown to a safer area. Both teens had lazy grins on their faces. Kaito sighed, "That… was awesome."

"… Yeah, it was," Shinmi had to agree. "It will never work on that stage though."

"Well, we need a bigger one then," Kaito said with a slight pout. "An even greater one than a normal stage. One where the whole world can see us!"

"Well, all the world's a stage," Shinmi shrugged. "You just have to take your place."

"All the world's a stage…" Kaito snorted, "Well, we should be able hold a show for all of Tokyo… let's do it!"

"… Kai… " Shinmi sighed, "How do propose we do that?" Actually, a certain way came to her mind, but that would be impossible at the moment.

"I'll find a way!" Kaito said, "I'll definitely find a way."

She shook her head with a tiny smile, "You do that."

~:~

As the actor moved to whisper the line in her ear, Shinmi internally groaned when he grabbed her shoulder instead of slamming the wall behind them. With a smirk, she said her line, and the scene ended on a not so dramatic note. The directors made a few remarks, and the two left the room.

She smiled brightly as him, "It was nice working with you."

He gave her a nervous smile, "You too, Shinmi-san."

They parted ways in the hall and she reentered the room Minoru and Hisao were waiting in. When she saw their expectant looks, she shook her head, "He can't block to save his life, and he grabbed me."

"Good," Hisao nodded. "I didn't like him."

Minoru rolled his eyes, "You didn't like any of them."

"Neither did you," Hisao shot back with a snort. "You were practically glued to the door."

"Details, Hisa-chan," Minoru said dismissively.

"Keep calling me that, and I really will throw this at you," the other boy threatened, filling in another number.

Minoru snorted in return, "You know you love me, Hisa-chan; don't deny it~"

"Only in your dreams."

"I'll see you tonight~!" Minoru waggled his eyebrows suggestively and grinned.

Shinmi rolled her eyes, "Before this becomes a repeat for heists when we're together, I'm going to head to the bakery café thing across the street."

Hisao looked up from his puzzle, "Is it already time for a break?"

"Yeah," Shinmi nodded, "We've got the second set in thirty minutes. You want me to bring you anything?

"I want a muffin," Hisao demanded, going back to his puzzle.

"I want one those cupcakes with icing in the middle!" Minoru said, bright eyed.

Incredibly amused by their different responses, Shinmi laughed silently as she slung her bag over her shoulder and then turned with a wave, "Sure. Blueberry and chocolate?"

"You know us so well~!"Minoru praised.

"Gods forbid I don't after all these years," she replied, leaving.

~:~

Across the street at the 'bakery café thing,' Shinmi was nursing a cup of coffee at a table in the corner when the woman sitting in a table in front of her dropped the muffin she was eating and fell forward, spilling her drink and sending the cup to the floor with a crash. Time seemed to stand still until…

"Holy shit…" a teenage boy was blinking wide eyed as he walked closer to the body.

"Don't get any closer," Shinmi ordered, rising from her seat. "And would someone please call the police and an ambulance?"

Ignoring her completely, he took out his phone and took multiple pictures, completely circling her body. Satisfied, he turned to Shinmi, "I already did both with my phone when she first fell. You can check my call log to make sure I'm not trying to deter you in any way." He smirked, "I got a very strong whiff of almonds when I got close to her, so I'm assuming cyanide poisoning. Feel free to begin your investigation, Meitantei-chan."

With a dark look, Shinmi glared at the teen when as she approached the body. It took one sniff to confirm the scent of almonds, and Shinmi turned to the boy as she dug her gloves out of her bag, "Who are you?"

"I'll tell when the police arrive," he replied easily, amber eyes flickering with mischief behind white horn-rimmed glasses. "Feel free to ask for any and all of my pictures if you need them, Meitantei-chan."

Shinmi rolled her eyes, but she noted that he did look rather familiar to her, but she couldn't place where she had seen him. Ignoring him for the moment, she put her gloves on and picked up the discarded muffin and sniffed it. With a frown, she put it back down.

"I take it that's not where the cyanide came from?" the teen chanced.

"Not from the muffin at least. I can't say anything about that drink though" Shinmi said. "She'll be dead before anyone can get here though."

The teen turned to the small gathering of people who were watching a safe distance away, "Sorry, but none of you are leaving until this is wrapped up. If you have anywhere to be, I suggest you call and explain." He grimaced, "That includes me too." He dialed a number on his phone, "You're going to have to take a slight rain check on those pictures, Meitantei-chan."

She watched as he walked away, running a hand through ginger colored hair. As she went to go talk to the manager of the establishment, she ran profiles through her mind, but for the life of her, none of them matched up to the teen. Pushing him out of her mind for the moment, she flashed the manager a reassuring smile, "I'd like to ask you some questions about your employees that clocked in to work today if that's okay with you, Manager-san."

The old man blinked at her, eyes wide, "You're…"

Shinmi finished the sentence for him, "A detective."

~:~

By the time, Megure arrived, Shinmi had already called Hisao and asked him to pass along a message that she would be back late.

"Shinmi-kun? Are you throwing away your anonymity?" he asked her.

"Ah, no, but not many people were here, and my leaving might have sent you on a wild goose chase for a possible suspect," she replied sheepishly.

"What have you collected so far?" Megure asked her.

"Keibu, when you said the anonymous tip was discovered," a woman said, "I didn't think you meant it was a teenage actress."

"A teenage actress who has been called the 'savior of the police force,'" Shinmi almost groaned when the teen spoke up next to her. He smirked, "If you won't trust her now that you know how young she is, that's a problem, ne?"

"You're not helping," Shinmi grumbled.

"I have no idea who _you_ are though," Megure said sternly.

"He took pictures of the body before I touched anything with his phone," Shinmi supplied. "Aside from that, according to the manager, today has been rather slow and only two other people were working. One of them Kobaru Reina-san, who was working the register, and the other is Takaki Kenya-san, who was working with the manager in the kitchen. The victim died of cyanide poisoning while eating a muffin, but I don't believe the poison was on the muffin. There are five other people who were here within an hour before the death, and none of them left." She gestured to the group of two men and three women. She shot the teen who had yet to give his name a look, "And then there's you."

"And you," he shot back a grin. He glanced at the group, "Sorry, but none of us are leaving; we're suspects."

"What?" A man asked, outraged. "If you're looking for the killer, it's that kid right there! He was sitting with her after all!"

* * *

**KurobaShinichi: **XD Yeah, Jii ended up winning out. HeiShin seems to be the more popular choice /nod

**Guest: **... you're the only person who caught that as far as I know. OTL One of the most misleading typos ever.

**RoseAngel16: **I weighted my options and while I originally thought Kaito would win out, if only because he uses his card gun more often, Hawaii is a place, so Shinmi isn't exactly at a disadvantage, and considering the fact neither of them knew what exactly they were getting into, I wanted a tie for the first time they did it. And Jii helped me do that lol.

First, thank you to my new watchers and the reviewers who made an appearance this chapter! :D You all are awesome.

Second, I couldn't post this last weekend because I've been sick with a nasty virus. I'll also be updating this coming weekend instead of the next one because I will be heading out of state for a volleyball tournament.

Third, I apologize for this lame murder... but this brings in the character who will be playing Lupin who is not the mysterious teenager, by the way. He does have a purpose beyond this murder though, kind of.

Thank you again for the reviews and watches in the past two weeks; your guys' support is awesome. 3

~Lupin


	9. Heist the Ninth

We've all established that I cannot upload without two solid weeks... /shot

* * *

Shinmi turned on him, a dark look in her eyes, "You were sitting with her? Why did you move tables?"

He held his hands up in defense, "She was my old gymnastics instructor from when I was like, eight. When she walked in, I waved her over and we talked for about twenty minutes because it's been a while since I've seen her." He pointed to the man who accused him, "That guy came in about five minutes before I moved tables because I was supposed to be meeting my brother after he finished working. His girlfriend or whatever, the one with blonde hair, came in about ten minutes later, and that threesome came in about thirty minutes after that." He frowned, "Her name is Uchino Mari."

Shinmi's mind moved as he explained his self, but she stopped short when he identified the woman.

"That story sounds nice and all," Megure said, "but where's your brother? If you were meeting him after he finished work, why isn't he here yet?"

"He's still there, waiting for the muffin, the cup, and anything else you choose to bring him," Shinmi noted his smug countenance as he replied. "My brother is Hitsuki Aiko, and he works in the crime lab."

"… You're Ryuu-kun, aren't you?" Shinmi asked.

He laughed, "Nice to see you remember me, Meitantei-chan. Last time you saw me, I was about a meter shorter and my hair was straighter and blonder."

"Do you know him, Shinmi-kun?"

"My mother made me do gymnastics when I was younger, among other things." Shinmi snorted, "He is the flying squirrel who moved classes every week because he was so advanced. Mari-sensei was his last teacher before he received a private coach. He's fourteen, a level nine gymnast, and he's aiming for Rio's gold."

"Last I checked, you weren't so bad yourself," Ryuu grinned. "I know you cleared six, which is nothing to laugh at."

Shinmi shrugged, "I quit when I started playing Airi." _And you taught Kaito a bunch of the things you learned… your mother was preparing you for something, don't you think?_ Shinmi pushed the voice to the back of her mind and addressed the officers, "I can confirm his story. Mari-sensei taught one of the three intermediate classes at Elevation. Ryuu also knew it was cyanide poisoning, most likely because of his brother."

Megure nodded, "I'll have to check that out, but you do seem to be in the clear."

The woman gave him dry stare, "Aiko-chan is a girl, Keibu."

"What?" Megure demanded, "Are you sure about that, Sato-kun?"

She nodded, continuing, "We've done things together that no man would do."

"Like look at other men?" Ryuu asked.

Sato gave him a triumphant grin, "Exactly."

"About this tall," Ryuu gestured to a space above his head. "Long, fire red hair down to mid-back, usually in a braid with two fringes past the chin, eyes like mine and flat as a board? That Hitsuki Aiko?"

"Yes…"

Ryuu snorted, "That's my brother, and he's totally bisexual with a preference for guys."

Megure gaped at the boy, "_That guy_ is your brother? … You're not as crazy as he is, are you?"

Ryuu chuckled softly, "I hope not."

With a cough, Shinmi interjected, "That's a good enough alibi once verified. Back to the murder at hand…"

~:~

Shinmi raised her head from her notes as Ryuu sat down, facing her. "Have you figured it out yet?"

"… Regrettably, no, I haven't." She said with a sigh.

"Eh, really?" Ryuu looked surprised. "I thought you have been able to solve it by now…"

She gave him a dry look, "Sorry to disappoint."

"… I thought it would be the guy who tried to blame me," Ryuu said conversationally. "He knew Mari-sensei too, after all. I thought he was trying to pin it on me."

Shinmi blinked owlishly at him, "What did you just say?"

"They used to date, and he's the reason she quit working at the gym a year ago." He shrugged, "I guess he started dating that blonde lady after they broke up about… two months ago. Mari-sensei told me when we were sitting together."

"… he lied to a police officer." Shinmi said.

"No, he lied to a teenage detective who's never actually seen in public at cases," Ryuu corrected. "He thought he could pull one over you." He snorted, "The idiot."

Shinmi had stopped listening, and was instead rereading the information he had collected about the suspects. As everything clicked together in her mind, a grin spread onto her face. She looked up at the younger teen sitting before him, "You're being pretty calm for someone whose sensei died…"

Ryuu shrugged, "With all the stories Aiko-nii tells me, I've got a pretty good constitution. Mari-sensei and I weren't that close… she actually hated me when I was younger because I never did what she told me to," he grinned sheepishly. "Don't make me feel guilty for not feeling terrible! You're not crying yourself."

Shinmi rolled her eyes, "I'm an actress. I'm good at pretending that I'm something I'm not."

"Uh huh… Well, aren't you just Little Miss Perfect?" Ryuu rolled his eyes in return.

~:~

All had been gathered for Shinmi's revelation of the murderer. She frowned as she faced everyone. "The one who killed Uchino Mari-san is none other than… her former student, Hitsuki Ryuu-kun."

The teen blinked owlishly at her, "… the fu—"

The man snorted, "Of course it was. He was the only one who was anywhere the woman."

"With your brother's knowledge, you could have learned enough from him to be able to pull it off," Shinmi explained. "You were her former student and you admitted to having a rocky relationship with her."

"Proof, give me proof!" Ryuu demanded. "You can't seriously be thinking I actually did this!"

"It was on the muffin, wasn't it?" Shinmi asked. "The cyanide most likely won't be found because she ingested all of it."

"Fine, let's say I did this," Ryuu said. "Why would I eat some of the muffin if I had poisoned it, and how did I even poison it?"

Shinmi smirked, "Two very good points you've brought up. You never had chance to because you were talking the entire time, and she never left to go to the bathroom."

"Shinmi-kun, even when talking, he could have distracted her and done it," Megure reminded her.

"That would work, except Ryuu talks with his hands, so they're always visible," Shinmi said. "Even now, he was moving his hands to help along his words. His relationship with Uchino-san wasn't a good one because he didn't do what she told him to." She looked to Ryuu,"That's because…"

"I would get bored for one thing," Ryuu said. "Another reason was because I couldn't keep my hands still even when I wasn't talking back then, and I annoyed her."

"… Then he's not the murderer." Megure asked, "Why did you say he was?"

"To confirm something," Shinmi said. "I just wanted to be sure of the accomplice. Uchino-san comes here every day like clockwork and has a muffin and a cup of sweet tea. She's done it so often that it's expected, and her order is made before she even walks in."

"So, an employee did it," Megure reasoned.

Shinmi nodded, "Not one of the two actually scheduled to work though, an employee with the day off who wanted to go on a date with their significant other in the place of their work."

Megure glanced at the man who had accused Ryuu.

"The murderer is Asahina Reiko," Shinmi announced, as she pointed with a flourish to the blonde woman. "Her boyfriend, Marumoto Shingo-san, used to date Uchino-san, and he had been thinking of breaking up with her and asking for forgiveness. The motive was jealously, and Asahina-san put the poison inside the sweet tea while talking to a friend, Kobaru-san about bringing her boyfriend in about an hour later. No one else had ordered sweet tea, or they would have met the same fate."

"You mentioned an accomplice…" Sato said. "Is it Kobaru-san?"

She shook her head, "Marumoto actually, he knew she was planning something, and he lied about knowing Uchino-san to keep himself and Asahina-san out of suspicion. He directed attention to Ryuu sitting with her to make him the primary suspect. That of course, was luck."

Marumoto shouted at her in anger, "You're wrong! It wasn't Reiko, it was me!"

"Really now?" Shinmi raised a delicate, challenging brow. "You still loved Uchino-san though. You considered breaking up with Asahina-san and begging for forgiveness. After all, it was a one night stand that was brought to light, was it not?"

He gaped at her, "H-how did yo—?"

"Shingo, stop," Asahina broke in. She smirked at Shinmi, "You're good, I'll give you that."

"Is that a confession?" Ryuu quipped.

She shrugged, "Sure, kid, let's call it that." She met eyes with Shinmi, "I killed her, and I don't regret it."

Shinmi shook her head, "That's unfortunate."

~:~

Everything had begun to be wrapped up, and Shinmi had her cast mates' orders wrapped up and ready to go. Ryuu stopped her as she opened the door, "Meitantei-chan, I have a question."

She paused and looked back at the younger teen, "What is it?"

"How did you know about the affair?"

She shrugged, "It was a guess. I figured Marumoto still loved Mari-sensei, and so she was the one who cut it off. The first thought I had was an affair. Even if I was wrong, I figured he would say something along the lines of loving her too much to cheat on her. By saying that, he would have eliminated himself as the primary suspect, but not as someone who aided and abetted the murderer."

"What if he had lied though?" Ryuu asked, eyes curious.

"I was looking for any and all tells," Shinmi said. "I would have noticed." She then changed topics, "Is someone still coming for you since your brother now has his hands full?"

He waved her concern away, "My other brother is coming once he wraps something up nearby. Aiko-nii's going to grab my phone when the police are done taking the pictures off of it, and I'll get it back at home."

"If you're sure…"

"Most definitely," he assured her.

~:~

"Look who it is," Hisao drawled as Shinmi opened the door. "Did you bring me my muffin?"

Shinmi rolled her eyes, "Someone _died_ and all you care about is your muffin?"

"I'm sure you let her soul rest in peace," Hisao said in a placating manner. "I have no idea who the woman even was, but all I know is that the press is going to eat up the fact that you solved the case."

"… Right, forgot about that," Shinmi said and sighed. "Kudou Shinichi exists for a reason."

Minoru opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, the door was opened. Standing there was the director. He said, "Everyone was sent home and rescheduled for tomorrow, but there's one guy who can't do it tomorrow. You've to go through him, and then you're done."

Minoru gave the man a thumbs up, "Sounds good to me!"

Hisao turned to a new puzzle, "Send him in whenever."

The director deadpanned at Hisao before leaving. A few minutes later, the door opened.

"'Scuse me…" the teenager said as he walked in, amber eyes twinkling with mischief.

"Ryuu?" Shinmi blinked owlishly. She then took a closer look at the teen, noting the taller stature, lack of glasses and slightly longer, shaggy hair. "You're… not him."

"That's one for the great detective," he smirked. "I'm the middle child, Tomo."

"Shinmi, care to introduce us to this guy?" Hisao asked, still not looking up from his puzzle book.

"Hitsuki Toma," she said. "Younger brother of Hitsuki Aiko, who works in the crime labs, and older brother of Hitsuki Ryuu, future Olympic gymnast and the one who helped me solve the case."

Minoru walked over to him by the door, "That's pretty cool. Is your brother a mystery otaku or something? There aren't many gymnasts who can help solve a murder case."

Tomo grinned, "My whole family is into mysteries, CSI, and stuff like that. I'm a sucker for gentleman thieves though."

"Do you like Kaitou Kid?" Shinmi asked curiously.

Tomo's eyes seemed to light up, "Most definitely. Right after this, I'm going to the heist with Ryuu."

Hisao chuckled slightly, "I bet you think playing Lupin is destined for you, right?"

A cocky grin was given in return, "We'll just have to see."

Minoru laughed, "Confident, aren't you? Hisa-chan was the same way. He's the last person you'd expect to play Watsune, but he was so confident in himself."

Hisao raised a delicate brow, "Are you saying that I'm not right for my part?"

"If I am?" Minoru challenged with a grin.

"This book will hit your face," Hisao said matter-of-factly.

Shinmi rolled her eyes, "I apologize for them." She tilted her head to the door, "I'm pretty sure they're ready for us."

"I did nothing wrong!" Minoru said with a grin. "All I did was point out that Hisa-chan isn't really the type to show concern for others."

Backs turned, Shinmi opened the door. She heard the book being thrown, and turned in time to see Tomo turn around and catch the book. He smirked, "The book didn't really hit his face, did it?"

"Hand slipped," Hisao replied dryly.

"No problem, we all make mistakes," Tomo shrugged, tossing the book back before leaving the room.

"… I like him," Hisao said after a while.

"You threw the book at him," Minoru whispered harshly.

"Because I wanted to see if he would catch it," Hisao said simply.

~:~

"What are you doing here?" Shinmi demanded, looking up at Tomo with hard eyes.

"What?" Tomo looked amused, "I thought you missed me, Airi-cha~n. It's been so long since Paris."

"Exactly, it's been so long," Shinmi snorted. "I don't miss you, Sen."

He grinned in pride, "That means you missed me at first, doesn't it?"

She rolled her eyes, "Just… just stay away from Shinsho, okay? Only the gods know what goes through his mind." She turned to walk away, and when she reached the wall, she was forcibly turned around.

Toma stood over her, eyes glittering with mischief, "You act like he's a threat to me…"

"He is."

Toma slammed his hand into the wall next to her, and Shinmi flinched. He leaned down to whisper in her ear, and the words rolled out of his mouth, "We all know who the real threat is, let's not pretend here."

Shinmi smirked, and tried to remove his hand. It held steadfast. She pursed her lips and met eyes with Toma, " You've got nothing to do with each other, don't bother."

Toma tilted his head to the side, "He took something that belongs to me, and I want it back."

"What could he possibly have that you don't?" Shinmi asked with an eye roll.

Toma stared her straight in the eyes, "You."

* * *

**Anon Review Replies:**

**Guest (the first): **He kind of already has, but he will confront her about it.

**KurobaShinichi: **XD Yeah, sure. ^^; No, Ryuu's not the murderer, sorry. And yeah, it would have been interesting...

**That one guest: **GTFO my mind. /shot XD Seriously, stawp. I can't deal with your musings on this story. OTL Haha, no, a boyfriend contender he is not.

**Guest (the second): **I personally think he's a little young for her tastes. ^^;

**RoseAngel16: **XD Nope, not Hattori. They meet... ull, Shinmi makes her heist debut. Hakuba is curious, and that's all I can say. Their fighting is more like a cold war. OTL Sorry to be so late to update.

Thank you to the people who followed and favorited, along with the reviewers! :D You guys are wonderful. And so sorry about not updating on time. I'll try and do better. /shot

So, yeah, not what you were expecting? ^^;

... I apologize if you didn't like this chapter. I can see that happening. The Lupin character's name is Lupin Sen, and he's a French-Japanese boy Airi met while in Paris. Airi's half American, and her character joined the cast half way through the first season when she moved to Japan. ... if anyone cares, that is.

Til we meet again, Lupin


	10. Heist the Tenth

And... back to monthly updates until club season calms down. Sorry.

* * *

Shinmi entered the room, falling under two pairs of expectant eyes. She looked at her two friends in silence before saying, "Yes."

Hisao smirked, "I knew it. He'll be reading with all of us tomorrow." He leaned back in his chair, obviously satisfied with himself.

Shinmi rolled her eyes, "You two have fun with him. I've got a heist to go to."

"Don't run into anymore murders!" Minoru called after her.

~:~

Shinmi walked down the dark hallway of the building Kid's heist was supposed to happen in. All the police were listening to Nakamori's badgering on the other side of the building, and he had been easy to slip past whenever she needed to. She paused in her walking when she heard footsteps behind her.

"I would ask how you got in here, but you are related to that thief, after all. I shouldn't be surprised."

Shinmi rolled her eyes as she identified the voice. She turned around and smiled into the teen detective's face, "Do I know you?" Her eyes widened fake recognition, "Oh, you're that detective, Hakuba-san! It's such a pleasure to finally meet you!"

He raised a brow, "Oh, so you're Kudou Shinmi now?"

She chuckled, "Who would be more likely to appear at a heist?"

"As the cousin of the thief, Kuroba Keiko would appear to see him 'perform,' as Kuroba-kun likes to call it," Hakuba said thoughtfully. "Although, Kudou Shinmi might make an appearance as the drama she stars in is gaining a cast member inspired by the thief in the next season."

She raised a brow, "You're a fan of the show? Haven't you been in England up until this year?" She grinned cheekily, "I bet you have the box sets, don't you?"

Hakuba coughed slightly, "Yes, but as one of the most true-to-canon adaptations of Conan Doyle's original works, I of course follow the story."

"Oh, really?" Shinmi gave him a knowing look, "Sherlock Holmes is a Japanese teenager, Mycroft isn't fat, and Watson went to military school before transferring to Beika Gakuen for middle school." She tilted her head to the side, "How exactly is that true-to-canon again?"

"You know what I meant by that," Hakuba said dryly.

Shinmi tapped her chin in thought, looking down before looking back up at the blonde before her, "Mmm… do I?"

Their eyes were locked together. Shinmi decided she only had so much time left to waste with him, so she broke the silence first. "Yes, those were very good points you brought up, Hakuba-san, in regards to my identity." She nodded, "Yes, very, very good." She grinned at him, "Do you know what you've earned?"

"The truth perhaps?" Hakuba asked with a raised brow.

"Even if that was sarcasm, yep!" She offered he hand to him, "My name is Kuroba Keiko, and honest to Kami, I am Kaito's cousin." He shook her hand with hesitance and she grinned, "As far as I know, Toichi-occhan only had one sibling, my mother."

"What about Kudou Shinmi's unnamed cousin?" Hakuba asked.

Shinmi sighed, "You did your research, congratulations. If I had to guess, I'd say it'd be that detective who's been going up against Kid, 'Kudou S.'." She shrugged, "They both like detectives, don't they?"

"True…" Hakuba allowed.

"… Does that mean you trust me?" Shinmi asked with a laugh.

"Not at all, Shinmi-san," Hakuba said.

"Didn't I just tell you that wasn't my real name?" Shinmi asked. She grinned, "You're not going deaf on me, are you?"

"You did not tell me you were going to give me the _entire_ truth, and you only swore that you and Kuroba are related," he pointed out.

Shinmi just blinked owlishly at him.

"Good evening, Keiko-san," Hakuba walked away.

Shinmi watched him walk away before smiling to herself, "… that one, I like that one." She shook her head and laughed slightly, her smile morphing into a grin, "I really like that one." She walked down the hall until she reached a closet door. "If Kaito knew how those lock-picking lessons paid off, he'd never let me hear it," she said with a sigh as she forced the door open. Retrieving the black bundle she had hidden there when she had first arrived, she unfolded it to reveal the black mask and a carefully made imitation, courtesy of Agasa, of the pink sapphire Kid aimed to steal tonight. Her lips widened into a smirk, "Only an hour until show time."

~:~

Kaito stepped out onto the roof of the building, a grin on his face. He lightly tossed the gem up into the air. His head tilted inward, and his brows rose when he saw a figure sitting on the ledge, her heeled ankle boots dangling freely over the busy streets below. She turned to look at him, but her eyes were hidden by the shadow of her hood.

"A nice evening, isn't it, Ojou-san?" He asked.

She smirked at him, "The internationally known thief, Phantom Thief 1412, more commonly known by Japanese police and fans alike as Kaitou Kid." Her head tilted to the side, "He's dead, though."

Kaito's poker face slammed into place, and he walked toward the woman calmly, the hand holding the gem inside his pocket. "Are you saying that I'm a ghost, Ojou-san?"

"Maybe I am…" She shrugged casually. "Or maybe I'm saying that you're not him."

Kaito chose not to reply, instead leveling his gaze on the woman.

"Does the name Kuroba Toichi mean anything to you, Kid-san?"

"Does the word Pandora mean anything to _you_, Ojou-san?" Kaito asked in return, eyes narrowing ever so slightly.

"… He does mean something," she said softly. She sighed and swung her legs over the edge of the building; her shoes made no sound as the landed on the roof. She took a step towards Kaito, and he saw a metallic gleam around one of her hidden eyes. She lifted a hand and tossed a gem to him which he caught immediately, "That is the prize you aimed to steal tonight."

Kaito took the gem out of his pocket and compared the two. There was virtually no difference between the two. He looked back up at the woman questioningly.

She grinned cheekily, "You sent a heist note; I didn't."

Kaito blinked at her. She beat him to his heist, and he didn't even notice. How exactly had that happened? "Well, thank you, Ojou-san…"

"The inspector should be coming soon with the Calvary," she said and walked back to the ledge. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Kid-san."

He watched as she walked off the ledge.

Kaito didn't panic though, as he assumed she had to have some sort of flying device similar to his. When he didn't see her flying off into the night after nearly a minute, he walked over to the ledge and cast a curious glance downwards.

There was nothing there. It was as if the woman had disappeared, and he hadn't the slightest idea how she had done it. He looked back to the two gems in his hand. Holding them both up to the light, Kaito cracked a grin when he saw the difference between the two. The refraction on the one the woman had handed him caused a tiny conglomeration of light that coincidently spelled out a word, albeit crudely.

"She lied to me, and… I believed her," Kaito said to himself. _All because she said his name… _His hang glider came out as the inspector made it to the roof, and Nakamori barely had time to let out one curse before Kaito was in the air.

~:~

Shinmi was feeling the adrenaline rush as she fell. The wire attached to her belt caught up with her about half way down and Agasa lowered her down the rest of the way. She took a relieved breath as she toed off her boots and sprinted to Agasa's hiding place. When she caught sight of the inventor, she removed her mask and cloak, revealing the shorts from her mother's closet and a dark shirt.

"How was it?" Agasa asked.

"Toichi-occhan was Kaitou Kid, wasn't he?" she asked in return. "That magic show accident covered up his murder… it has to do with Pandora." When Agasa opened his mouth to speak, she cut him off, "I put my clothes in your car, but you have the pair of sweatpants I asked you to bring from my house, right?"

He nodded and offered them up to her, "They're right here. My car is parked a block away, behind the game store."

"Yeah, I know where that is," she nodded. "I'll be right behind you." He walked away with her shoes and mask wrapped up inside the cloak as she began changing into the sweat pants.

When she finished changing, she stuffed her hands into her pockets and sighed, "And it's all because of Pandora…"

~:~

Kaito lay on the seats in the back of Jii's car. That woman had made it seem like she slipped past him when she really hadn't. All it had taken was an air of confidence and mystery and… his dad. She used his name to rile him up and took the opening when it came.

She knew who he was.

"Jii-chan… how many people knew Tou-chan was Kaitou Kid?" He asked quietly.

"Not many, Bocchama." Jii said as he drove. "You, your mother, myself, and the group of people who planned his death, and I would assume that is all. Possibly your aunt and uncle, but," he looked up into his rearview mirror, "did something happen tonight?"

Kaito shook his head and stared up at the ceiling of the car, "There was this woman, and she asked me what Tou-chan's name meant to me…"

"Ah!" Jii's eyebrows rose as he remembered something, "You're too young to remember her, but there was one woman who used to take part in your father's heists…"

Kaito sat up immediately, "What? He had an accomplice other than you?"

"I'm sure there are some old newspapers inside your father's room. She accompanied him on heists before disappearing for a few years and then reappeared a few years before he died."

"What was her name?" Kaito asked.

"She never revealed it to the public, but your father called her the source of his inspiration," the old man replied.

"… That works," Kaito said as his brain began moving, creating a new heist note. _When the clock strikes midnight and the pumpkin returns…_

* * *

**Anonymous Review Replies:**

**Guest: **... the update's right here. I've been busy; sue me. ;P

**Guest the Jest:** XD Yeah, I like Toma too.

Well, thank you for the reviews on the last chapter and the new followers as well! I'm sorry for this late update, but I think it's going to have be once a month until club season ends. So, we'll be back to regular updates come summer.

Um, comments on this chapter... Hakuba and Shinmi's scene was staring me down the majority of February, and I had no idea how to keep going with it. Their relationship is just interesting, and no, this doesn't mean it's HakuShin. Hattori doesn't come in until Kaito and Shinmi have there confrontation at the next heist, and then Hakuba unravels Shinmi's identity, and _then_ our beloved Kansai tantei makes a heist appearance to challenge "Kudou S., " who he smartly deduces to be Shinichi only to find it's Shinmi and... yeah, headaches all around.

Until next time,

Lupin


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